Certain diseases or conditions may be treated, according to modern medical techniques, by delivering a medication or other substance to the body of a patient, either in a continuous manner or at particular times or time intervals within an overall time period. For example, diabetes is commonly treated by delivering defined amounts of insulin to the patient at appropriate times. Some common modes of providing insulin therapy to a patient include delivery of insulin through manually operated syringes and insulin pens. Other modern systems employ programmable fluid infusion devices (e.g., insulin pumps) to deliver controlled amounts of insulin to a patient.
A fluid infusion device suitable for use as an insulin pump may be realized as an external device or an implantable device that is surgically implanted into the body of the patient. External fluid infusion devices include devices designed for use in a generally stationary location (for example, in a hospital or clinic), and devices configured for ambulatory or portable use (to be carried by a patient). External fluid infusion devices may establish a fluid flow path from a fluid reservoir to the patient via, for example, a suitable hollow tubing. The hollow tubing may be connected to a hollow fluid delivery needle that is designed to pierce the patient's skin to deliver an infusion medium to the body. Alternatively, the hollow tubing may be connected directly to the patient's body through a cannula or set of micro-needles.
Portable insulin pump devices can be expensive to procure and maintain due to their extensive use of sensitive electronic components, batteries, microprocessor chips, electronic display elements, motors, controllers, and the like. Consequently, many diabetes patients continue to use the traditional low cost approach that involves patient-actuated syringes. Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a low cost portable fluid infusion pump device that need not rely on expensive electronic components for fluid delivery operations. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.